Here is a summary of the first recorded conversation in the chapter, found in verses one through four.
Nephi: Righteous peoples gets blessed, and the wickeds burn!
Laman: Awwwww man.
Lemuel: That be harsh, brah.
N: But it's TRUE!
L&L: ..........
Nephi: You guys should really be righteous. Really. Seriously. (Presumably, he goes on...)
And then they humble themselves and Nephi writes that he "had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness." Really? This is going to sound incredibly cynical, but did he SERIOUSLY think that? That it would be that simple, that all he had to do was EXPLAIN to his wicked brothers why being righteous was in the long run a much better deal than being wicked, and they would listen and completely turn their lives around? Maybe this was the first time that they really seemed to get it. Maybe that was the big difference from Nephi's perspective. I just really wish there were some sort of alternative record that was written from Laman and Lemuel's perspective.
I think a major clue to this whole mystery is found within the summary of that conversation, the line that says "the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center." This had never occurred to me until this time around, but THAT is the main reason why you have to convert someone to loving God and wanting him or her to have that desire to please God before you can ask them to make any lifestyle changes, or really any changes at all. If some stranger walked up to me on the street and said, "You may never eat another apple as long as you live, or else you will be punished," I would give him a weird look and move on with my life. However, if someone I loved deeply came up to me and said, "Every time you eat an apple, the voodoo guy down the street stabs this little image of me and it makes my eyeballs bleed." Assuming I believed this person, of course I would stop eating apples, for his or her sake. It's the same thing with righteousness. It's why so many missionaries are so ineffective: you can't convince anyone to obey God using logic, or intellectualism, or anything else but a love for God. Fear of punishment can substitute for the short term, but it never lasts.
It is possible that Nephi saw a glint of what might for a love for him, and a love for God, in their sad little faces when he thought they might be turning their lives around. The notion would be especially tempting if he also thought that perhaps his descendants might be spared all the violence and turmoil that he had just seen in the his vision of the future. Or maybe he was just a really hopeful, positive guy.
There was a missionary I worked with who believed everything everybody told him. If someone promised to quit smoking, he insisted that they were, even if we went to visit and the house was laden with cigarette butts. If someone promised to come to church and was nowhere to be found the next day, he insisted that the tram must have broken down. At the time, I thought he was delusional, and he was at least on some level--he baptized a lot of people who liked him, or were afraid of him (he was an ex-marine or something like that) who had little understanding of the gospel and often fell off the face of the earth weeks after their baptism. However, he met once with an investigator of ours who had been meeting with the missionaries for YEARS, and she said the her short lesson with him was the strongest she had ever felt the Spirit, ever. I remember feeling both jealous and perplexed by that statement, and then oddly gratified when she didn't show up to church the next day even though she had sworn to him she would come.
In an act of legitimate immaturity, I do believe that I went up to poor Elder P. and hissed "I told you so" when she didn't show up. We had been talking about dropping her, and being right somehow felt validating to me. How on earth was being right more satisfying than helping out a nice woman who was thisclose to joining the Church? I am a jerk.
I suppose the really satisfying thing about being cynical is that if you're right, you never got your hopes up to begin with, and if you're wrong, you're pleasantly surprised. But I'm pretty sure that cynicism isn't the way of Jesus. Or Buddha or pretty much any great religious figure, for that matter. Uh oh. I am in so much trouble.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
1 Nephi 15
Meanwhile, back at the camp...
Nephi returns from his long and extraordinary vision (I wonder how long the whole thing took? Hours? Days?) and finds his brothers arguing about Lehi's original vision, the same one that Nephi had just reviewed and expanded upon for the last few chapters. What an unbelievable narrative coincidence! His brothers (Laman and Lemuel, presumably) told Nephi that they couldn't understand the symbolism in the dream.
Nephi: Did you, like, ask God?
L & L: Duhhhhh ... No.
Nephi: *rolls eyes*
In all fairness, I can be just as dense sometimes. Also, I think another reason why I'm siding with Laman and Lemuel in my head here is that I REALLY don't like Nephi's tone in these first few verses. Observe:
2 And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and they were disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them.
Nephi returns from his long and extraordinary vision (I wonder how long the whole thing took? Hours? Days?) and finds his brothers arguing about Lehi's original vision, the same one that Nephi had just reviewed and expanded upon for the last few chapters. What an unbelievable narrative coincidence! His brothers (Laman and Lemuel, presumably) told Nephi that they couldn't understand the symbolism in the dream.
Nephi: Did you, like, ask God?
L & L: Duhhhhh ... No.
Nephi: *rolls eyes*
In all fairness, I can be just as dense sometimes. Also, I think another reason why I'm siding with Laman and Lemuel in my head here is that I REALLY don't like Nephi's tone in these first few verses. Observe:
2 And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and they were disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them.
3 For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be aunderstood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought.
4 And now I, Nephi, was grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, and also, because of the things which I had seen, and knew they must unavoidably come to pass because of the great wickedness of the children of men.
5 And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my afflictions, for I considered that mine aafflictions were great above all, because of the bdestruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall.
Is it just me, or does he sound a little high and mighty here? Also slightly whiny. Bless his heart. I do like Nephi, but I definitely don't identify with him at all, is all I'm saying.
One sort of confusing/revealing thing that Laman and Lemuel say to Nephi, which is worth mentioning, is when Nephi asks if they have asked God about the meaning of the vision, they say, "No we haven't [asked], because God makes no such thing known unto us." This has several possible meanings. One, that they are extraordinarily dense concerning the standard method of receiving an answer to a question: Step one, ask. Step two, receive answer. Maybe they were dyslexic? Or maybe they realized on some level that God wouldn't answer their questions because of their wickedness? Food for thought. Or perhaps, that they recognized, at least on some level, that their lives weren't quite right with God and they weren't worthy of some of the blessings they had seen.
Next, Nephi gives an abbreviated explanation of the olive tree analogy: that their family is a branch of the house of Israel, and someday after Christ has come, their descendants will realize who they really are and who they need to believe in--that after the gospel is brought to the Gentiles, it will be delivered to the remaining Nephites and Lamanites who have dwindled in unbelief. Hence the being grafted onto the olive tree, because they were a part of the olive tree to begin with. Fact: this would all make a lot more sense if I knew more about landscaping. The olive tree allegory is one of my favorites, partly because of its obvious academe tone, and partly because it shows God's willingness to work with and accept and hand over multiple chances to His children. It's so parental, so awesome.*
Finally, Nephi quotes some Isaiah and does some more convincing, and L&L are prepared to hear the interpretation of the vision. Nephi explains it to them briefly and simply, which was kind of him. However, once he gets to the part about the awful Hell God has in store for the wicked and what happens to those who die in wickedness, Nephi lays on the gritty details. Was this because he had already seen in a vision that his brothers were going to end up wicked? Did he, actually? He knew that they were going to bear seed that would be wicked and destroy his seed, but did he know the outcome of his brothers' lives? I kind of hope not. That would be too awful a secret to have, even if one is a prophet, and it might make him give up. Nephi doesn't give up on them for at least a few more chapters, I reckon.
*Awesome in the traditional sense of the word.
Is it just me, or does he sound a little high and mighty here? Also slightly whiny. Bless his heart. I do like Nephi, but I definitely don't identify with him at all, is all I'm saying.
One sort of confusing/revealing thing that Laman and Lemuel say to Nephi, which is worth mentioning, is when Nephi asks if they have asked God about the meaning of the vision, they say, "No we haven't [asked], because God makes no such thing known unto us." This has several possible meanings. One, that they are extraordinarily dense concerning the standard method of receiving an answer to a question: Step one, ask. Step two, receive answer. Maybe they were dyslexic? Or maybe they realized on some level that God wouldn't answer their questions because of their wickedness? Food for thought. Or perhaps, that they recognized, at least on some level, that their lives weren't quite right with God and they weren't worthy of some of the blessings they had seen.
Next, Nephi gives an abbreviated explanation of the olive tree analogy: that their family is a branch of the house of Israel, and someday after Christ has come, their descendants will realize who they really are and who they need to believe in--that after the gospel is brought to the Gentiles, it will be delivered to the remaining Nephites and Lamanites who have dwindled in unbelief. Hence the being grafted onto the olive tree, because they were a part of the olive tree to begin with. Fact: this would all make a lot more sense if I knew more about landscaping. The olive tree allegory is one of my favorites, partly because of its obvious academe tone, and partly because it shows God's willingness to work with and accept and hand over multiple chances to His children. It's so parental, so awesome.*
Finally, Nephi quotes some Isaiah and does some more convincing, and L&L are prepared to hear the interpretation of the vision. Nephi explains it to them briefly and simply, which was kind of him. However, once he gets to the part about the awful Hell God has in store for the wicked and what happens to those who die in wickedness, Nephi lays on the gritty details. Was this because he had already seen in a vision that his brothers were going to end up wicked? Did he, actually? He knew that they were going to bear seed that would be wicked and destroy his seed, but did he know the outcome of his brothers' lives? I kind of hope not. That would be too awful a secret to have, even if one is a prophet, and it might make him give up. Nephi doesn't give up on them for at least a few more chapters, I reckon.
*Awesome in the traditional sense of the word.
Monday, January 11, 2010
1 Nephi 14
I don't know if I'm dumb or just slow, but this time through the Book of Mormon is the first time that I've really remembered throughout this entire span of chapters that Nephi is talking about the vision he had of the future as shown by his angel spirit guide. I suppose in past readings I tended to take each chapter on its own instead of noting its part in the larger picture. Anyway, this chapter is the last chapter of the aforementioned vision, unless Nephi concludes it twice. For this reason the chapter reads a bit like a summary, or at least a re-statement with some new information thrown in.
Fact: two of my favorite gospel subjects are equality and repentance. I really like any scripture stories that focus on Christ's concern for all people regardless of their past (the calling of Matthew the Publican; Christ's forgiveness of the woman who washes His feet with her hair) or ethnic background (the woman at the well) or gender (ibid). I have noticed that stories about these two subjects often seem few and far between in the Bible, which is a pity, particularly because I would theorize the biblical lack of such stories is quite possibly what leads so many Christians to see God as unfeeling and overly revenge-driven.
Nephi lays out two potential fates for the Gentiles in this chapter. One, that when Christ manifests Himself to them and removes their "stumbling blocks" (I'm not sure if he is referring to anything specific or just to stumbling blocks in general) that they will accept Him and be blessed, free and awesome. Alternative: that they will harden their hearts against Christ and be thrown into the PITS OF HELL! Which were dug (tense?), naturally, by the Great and Abominable Church, the Whore of All the Earth. The way the angel spirit guide puts it, this is one of the incredible acts of the universe: that everyone will have the opportunity to choose good and be happy, or choose evil and be miserable. They make it sound so easy. Maybe it is .... or will be once one is more spiritually mature? Scratch that. When I am more spiritually mature.
Not sure yet. I'll let you know.
Here's another thing I'm curious about, which I mentioned before. I truly, honestly believe that the line between the wicked and the righteous is not so much a matter of church membership as loyalty/obedience/compassion/other assorted virtues. However, these verses would seem to make a case against this notion:
10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save atwo churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the bother is the church of the cdevil; wherefore, dwhoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the ewhore of all the earth.
Fact: two of my favorite gospel subjects are equality and repentance. I really like any scripture stories that focus on Christ's concern for all people regardless of their past (the calling of Matthew the Publican; Christ's forgiveness of the woman who washes His feet with her hair) or ethnic background (the woman at the well) or gender (ibid). I have noticed that stories about these two subjects often seem few and far between in the Bible, which is a pity, particularly because I would theorize the biblical lack of such stories is quite possibly what leads so many Christians to see God as unfeeling and overly revenge-driven.
Nephi lays out two potential fates for the Gentiles in this chapter. One, that when Christ manifests Himself to them and removes their "stumbling blocks" (I'm not sure if he is referring to anything specific or just to stumbling blocks in general) that they will accept Him and be blessed, free and awesome. Alternative: that they will harden their hearts against Christ and be thrown into the PITS OF HELL! Which were dug (tense?), naturally, by the Great and Abominable Church, the Whore of All the Earth. The way the angel spirit guide puts it, this is one of the incredible acts of the universe: that everyone will have the opportunity to choose good and be happy, or choose evil and be miserable. They make it sound so easy. Maybe it is .... or will be once one is more spiritually mature? Scratch that. When I am more spiritually mature.
Not sure yet. I'll let you know.
Here's another thing I'm curious about, which I mentioned before. I truly, honestly believe that the line between the wicked and the righteous is not so much a matter of church membership as loyalty/obedience/compassion/other assorted virtues. However, these verses would seem to make a case against this notion:
10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save atwo churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the bother is the church of the cdevil; wherefore, dwhoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the ewhore of all the earth.
12 And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were afew, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon ball the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.
This DOES seem to be referring to two specific churches, doesn't it? However, it is possible that once again the "churches" are just metaphors for the wicked and the righteous. I'm really not sure. I plan to stick to my interpretation unless I find more evidence against it, though.
Finally, we have a reference to John the Beloved, the man behind Revelation, which apparently used to be easy to understand. What I wouldn't do to get my hands on of those editions. Unfortunately, I will probably have to die in order to do so. I can wait! I can wait!
This DOES seem to be referring to two specific churches, doesn't it? However, it is possible that once again the "churches" are just metaphors for the wicked and the righteous. I'm really not sure. I plan to stick to my interpretation unless I find more evidence against it, though.
Finally, we have a reference to John the Beloved, the man behind Revelation, which apparently used to be easy to understand. What I wouldn't do to get my hands on of those editions. Unfortunately, I will probably have to die in order to do so. I can wait! I can wait!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
1 Nephi 13, part 2 (verses 20-42)
I have always thought of this chapter as the Bible Chapter, for reasons that will soon be made clear. In this (second half of the) chapter, the angel spirit guide shows Nephi a vision of the origin of the Bible and its corruption by the Great and Abominable Church. Which is something we talk about a lot as Mormons, I think. I always find it interesting that we focus so much on the intentional corruption of the Bible, as if there were hundreds of shifty-eyed monks who did nothing all day but erase crucial words from Isaiah and cloak the words of Paul in dense symbolism. That's what the angel focuses on in this vision, as well, with the phrasings like "take out" and "keep back.". However, I like to think that not all that was lost from the Bible was discarded intentionally, but rather .... lost, in the literal sense of the word. As in, by accident. Over the course of thousands of years, mistranslation, semantic shift, etc. are bound to happen. I wish we would give the Catholic Church more credit for preserving what we have instead of dissing them for messing it up. Just a thought.
One more potentially controversial idea. This chapter also talks about the motivation behind the corruption of the Bible, that the representatives of the Whore of All the Earth did so intentionally because they wanted to "blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men" Here is my thought, although it may be overly kind, I don't know. So remember what I said in the previous post about Columbus and the Founding Fathers being used for righteous purposes even though they weren't very righteous guys? That allows for the idea that the Spirit can work through imperfect vessels without them really understanding what is going on. Is it possible that those people who messed up the Bible and threw out the old covenants didn't do it because they were trying to build Satan's kingdom on earth, but rather because they thought they were doing the right thing and got confused? Maybe this is what really happened more often than not, and we just don't talk about it When I taught about the Apostasy as a missionary, we focused a lot on the idea that good people without the Priesthood make mistakes. If we had tried to tell Hungarians that all non-Mormon Christians were shifty-eyed Satanists who throughout the ages had tried their best to destroy Jesus and everything He stood for, we would have had even less success than we already weren't having. Again, just a thought, I'm open to correction. Good thing nobody reads this. And I really mean nobody.
Something I often said to fellow missionaries who trashed the Catholic Church too much was, "YOU try running a church without the Priesthood! See how far you get!"
It gets a little more upbeat around verse 30 when the angel spirit guide reassures Nephi that God won't allow the Bible-thumping Gentiles to completely destroy his descendants. You know, not utterly. Just mostly. He also points out that He won't allow the Gentiles to remain forever in their state of ignorance, which is great news because I think the Puritan life in the 1600s is seriously some of the most depressing stuff I have ever read about. He describes the Gentiles as "stumbling exceedingly," which is a fantastic image, I think. I much prefer the image of the Puritans stumbling through the dark rather than flipping off the lights, know what I mean? it implies that they, like the Lamanites, weren't so much rejecting everything good but rather living as best they could in relation to what they knew, which wasn't quite enough. Poor Puritans. Maybe I can even feel sorry for them.
Next, we have the Restoration! Yay! This version of it focuses almost entirely on the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon, which given the emphasis on the Bible earlier on in the chapter, makes a whole lot of sense. the angel spirit guide says that those who we will help to bring forth the new Zion will be very blessed.
"And ablessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my bZion at that day, for they shall have the cgift and the dpower of the Holy Ghost," it reads. So it's not you, and it's not them. It's the Holy Ghost that makes the difference. I like that. It's compassionate. At the end of this chapter, angel spirit guide reminds Nephi that, after all the negative vibes we were getting in the last few chapters, there is still one God and on Shepherd over all the Earth, and everything is going to work out OK. Good, because I was getting sad.
One more potentially controversial idea. This chapter also talks about the motivation behind the corruption of the Bible, that the representatives of the Whore of All the Earth did so intentionally because they wanted to "blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men" Here is my thought, although it may be overly kind, I don't know. So remember what I said in the previous post about Columbus and the Founding Fathers being used for righteous purposes even though they weren't very righteous guys? That allows for the idea that the Spirit can work through imperfect vessels without them really understanding what is going on. Is it possible that those people who messed up the Bible and threw out the old covenants didn't do it because they were trying to build Satan's kingdom on earth, but rather because they thought they were doing the right thing and got confused? Maybe this is what really happened more often than not, and we just don't talk about it When I taught about the Apostasy as a missionary, we focused a lot on the idea that good people without the Priesthood make mistakes. If we had tried to tell Hungarians that all non-Mormon Christians were shifty-eyed Satanists who throughout the ages had tried their best to destroy Jesus and everything He stood for, we would have had even less success than we already weren't having. Again, just a thought, I'm open to correction. Good thing nobody reads this. And I really mean nobody.
Something I often said to fellow missionaries who trashed the Catholic Church too much was, "YOU try running a church without the Priesthood! See how far you get!"
It gets a little more upbeat around verse 30 when the angel spirit guide reassures Nephi that God won't allow the Bible-thumping Gentiles to completely destroy his descendants. You know, not utterly. Just mostly. He also points out that He won't allow the Gentiles to remain forever in their state of ignorance, which is great news because I think the Puritan life in the 1600s is seriously some of the most depressing stuff I have ever read about. He describes the Gentiles as "stumbling exceedingly," which is a fantastic image, I think. I much prefer the image of the Puritans stumbling through the dark rather than flipping off the lights, know what I mean? it implies that they, like the Lamanites, weren't so much rejecting everything good but rather living as best they could in relation to what they knew, which wasn't quite enough. Poor Puritans. Maybe I can even feel sorry for them.
Next, we have the Restoration! Yay! This version of it focuses almost entirely on the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon, which given the emphasis on the Bible earlier on in the chapter, makes a whole lot of sense. the angel spirit guide says that those who we will help to bring forth the new Zion will be very blessed.
"And ablessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my bZion at that day, for they shall have the cgift and the dpower of the Holy Ghost," it reads. So it's not you, and it's not them. It's the Holy Ghost that makes the difference. I like that. It's compassionate. At the end of this chapter, angel spirit guide reminds Nephi that, after all the negative vibes we were getting in the last few chapters, there is still one God and on Shepherd over all the Earth, and everything is going to work out OK. Good, because I was getting sad.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
1 Nephi 13, part 1 (verses 1-19)
1 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms.
2 And the angel said unto me: What beholdest thou? And I said: I behold many anations and kingdoms.
Is it just me, or do these first two verses sound vaguely Dr. Seuss-ish?
And here we have it, Major Book of Mormon Controversy No. 1!!!!!!!!!! The Great and Abominable Church, the Whore of All the Earth (Ouch). So the big discussion amongst members of the Church, or as I like to think of it, Bruce R. McConkie vs. Everyone, is: Which church is it? I think a better question might be: is it meant to be any one specific church?
Here is what Nephi says about this church:
1. It slays the Saints of God.
2. It tortures them and binds them down and yokes them with an iron yoke and brings them into captivity. It does not slice or dice them, however. What is with the intoxicating rhythm of this chapter? The whole thing sounds like a freaky Hop on Pop.
3. The Devil is the founder of it.
4. The church desires gold, silver, silks, fine clothing, and harlots.
5. They destroy the Saints for the praise of the world.
My instinct tells me that just as the Saints of God, in my humble opinion, are not limited only to those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but rather to all those who live righteous lives and accept Christ as the Savior of the world, so too are those who fight against the Church not under one umbrella organization, but rather found anywhere. I would wager that some of the whores of all the earth are even found in this very church. Mormons are not immune to wickedness and pride and vanity and such. In fact sometimes we see the worst of it.
That is a very uncomfortable thought, I think, but I also think it's a true one.
And then, in the middle of this charming description of the worst church ever, we have a reference to Christopher Columbus! I'm just glad I didn't end up in that chapter. What a downer.
I have always kinda had issues with the whole "Christopher Columbus being inspired" thing. Not that I doubt it. I mean it's in the Book of Mormon pretty clearly, it must be true. But based on the (admittedly highly revisionist) history I've read about Columbus, he doesn't seem like a very nice guy. In fact, quite often he sounds like a world-class (if you'll pardon the pun) jerk. I guess on the one hand, I should be grateful that Heavenly Father is willing to use even the most flawed among us to accomplish His purposes. I suppose I just don't like the fact that many American Mormons use these few verses in the Book of Mormon to justify deifying Columbus and refusing to believe anything bad that historians might say about him. Ditto with the Founding Fathers. I know I will have to meet them to be 100% sure, but I think some of them were probably pricks. But God worked through them anyway, just like He can work through me, if I let Him.
Also, according to Nephi, the Nephites resembled the British colonists on some level. So they were short and pale and had bad teeth, presumably? At least they were humble, right?
Kidding, Nephi, if you're reading this. You know I kid.
Is it just me, or do these first two verses sound vaguely Dr. Seuss-ish?
And here we have it, Major Book of Mormon Controversy No. 1!!!!!!!!!! The Great and Abominable Church, the Whore of All the Earth (Ouch). So the big discussion amongst members of the Church, or as I like to think of it, Bruce R. McConkie vs. Everyone, is: Which church is it? I think a better question might be: is it meant to be any one specific church?
Here is what Nephi says about this church:
1. It slays the Saints of God.
2. It tortures them and binds them down and yokes them with an iron yoke and brings them into captivity. It does not slice or dice them, however. What is with the intoxicating rhythm of this chapter? The whole thing sounds like a freaky Hop on Pop.
3. The Devil is the founder of it.
4. The church desires gold, silver, silks, fine clothing, and harlots.
5. They destroy the Saints for the praise of the world.
My instinct tells me that just as the Saints of God, in my humble opinion, are not limited only to those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but rather to all those who live righteous lives and accept Christ as the Savior of the world, so too are those who fight against the Church not under one umbrella organization, but rather found anywhere. I would wager that some of the whores of all the earth are even found in this very church. Mormons are not immune to wickedness and pride and vanity and such. In fact sometimes we see the worst of it.
That is a very uncomfortable thought, I think, but I also think it's a true one.
And then, in the middle of this charming description of the worst church ever, we have a reference to Christopher Columbus! I'm just glad I didn't end up in that chapter. What a downer.
I have always kinda had issues with the whole "Christopher Columbus being inspired" thing. Not that I doubt it. I mean it's in the Book of Mormon pretty clearly, it must be true. But based on the (admittedly highly revisionist) history I've read about Columbus, he doesn't seem like a very nice guy. In fact, quite often he sounds like a world-class (if you'll pardon the pun) jerk. I guess on the one hand, I should be grateful that Heavenly Father is willing to use even the most flawed among us to accomplish His purposes. I suppose I just don't like the fact that many American Mormons use these few verses in the Book of Mormon to justify deifying Columbus and refusing to believe anything bad that historians might say about him. Ditto with the Founding Fathers. I know I will have to meet them to be 100% sure, but I think some of them were probably pricks. But God worked through them anyway, just like He can work through me, if I let Him.
Also, according to Nephi, the Nephites resembled the British colonists on some level. So they were short and pale and had bad teeth, presumably? At least they were humble, right?
Kidding, Nephi, if you're reading this. You know I kid.
Monday, November 30, 2009
I Nephi 12
"Nephi's vision 2: and this time it gets ugly"
This is a continuation of Nephi's vision of the tree of life, which basically turns into a vision of the history of the world. Although at this point none of it had happened yet so it was actually a vision of the future rather than a mere history. Which is pretty cool. Quite often I wish I could see the future.
1. Nephi beholds the promised land and sees the he and his brethren have lots and lots of descendants. Keeping with familial tradition, they fight amongst each other.
2. Nephi sees all he destruction that precedes the Coming of the Savior to the Nephites. I always wonder if watching something like that would be more like watching a disaster movie, where people just run out of the way and look scared but you don't see any real violence, or more like Peter Jackson's King Kong where you actually witness the individual people suffering? If it's the second I'm glad I didn't have to see that. I think it's an all-around good thing that I'm not a prophet, actually.
3. Next, Nephi sees Christ's ministry among the Nephites, which I'm positive is exactly like it's shown in the movie The Testaments.
Here's an interesting tidbit: Nephi mentions that Christ calls twelve men to be Apostles among his seed in order to judge them in the afterlife, whereas the Jerusalem Twelve (as they shall henceforth be called) will judge the Jews. First question: the Jerusalem Twelve, is that plus or minus Judas? I'm going to assume he won't qualify, so who will they pick to take his place? Matthias, maybe? Joseph Smith? Who knows?
Seriously, the Joseph Smith thing was 100% speculation. Please don't quote me on that.
Second question: so different ethnic groups have different judges? Or is it different time periods? How does this massive organization of post-mortal judging teams work? I'm afraid this is another one of those questions I will most likely not know until I die unless I somehow end up married to the prophet. Possibly not even then. Not that I'm complaining. I recognize that it's not MASSIVELY important.
4. Next, and this must have been hard to watch too, but for different reasons, Nephi watches four generations pass away in righteousness, which must have been heartening. Yet I'm sure Nephi probably figure it out pretty quickly that it wasn't going to last. He sees his descendants gathered against his brothers' descendants in battle, and he basically watches them wipe each other. Even if he only saw the PG version, that must have been painful to watch. The more I think about it, the happier I am that I can't see the future, because you know the future will always contain good things and bad things. I'd rather be surprised by both.
6. Lastly, we have a quick review of the rest of the symbolism of the vision.
River = Hell
Great and Spacious Building = Pride of Man
7. The angel then reiterates that The Lamanites totally kick the Nephites' trash (as if he needed him to rub it in any more) and that the Lamanites forget all the traditions of their fathers and dabble in all sorts of wickedness. Which seems a pretty harsh dismissal of the Native Americans, but maybe he was only talking about the really bloodthirsty ones.
This is a continuation of Nephi's vision of the tree of life, which basically turns into a vision of the history of the world. Although at this point none of it had happened yet so it was actually a vision of the future rather than a mere history. Which is pretty cool. Quite often I wish I could see the future.
1. Nephi beholds the promised land and sees the he and his brethren have lots and lots of descendants. Keeping with familial tradition, they fight amongst each other.
2. Nephi sees all he destruction that precedes the Coming of the Savior to the Nephites. I always wonder if watching something like that would be more like watching a disaster movie, where people just run out of the way and look scared but you don't see any real violence, or more like Peter Jackson's King Kong where you actually witness the individual people suffering? If it's the second I'm glad I didn't have to see that. I think it's an all-around good thing that I'm not a prophet, actually.
3. Next, Nephi sees Christ's ministry among the Nephites, which I'm positive is exactly like it's shown in the movie The Testaments.
Here's an interesting tidbit: Nephi mentions that Christ calls twelve men to be Apostles among his seed in order to judge them in the afterlife, whereas the Jerusalem Twelve (as they shall henceforth be called) will judge the Jews. First question: the Jerusalem Twelve, is that plus or minus Judas? I'm going to assume he won't qualify, so who will they pick to take his place? Matthias, maybe? Joseph Smith? Who knows?
Seriously, the Joseph Smith thing was 100% speculation. Please don't quote me on that.
Second question: so different ethnic groups have different judges? Or is it different time periods? How does this massive organization of post-mortal judging teams work? I'm afraid this is another one of those questions I will most likely not know until I die unless I somehow end up married to the prophet. Possibly not even then. Not that I'm complaining. I recognize that it's not MASSIVELY important.
4. Next, and this must have been hard to watch too, but for different reasons, Nephi watches four generations pass away in righteousness, which must have been heartening. Yet I'm sure Nephi probably figure it out pretty quickly that it wasn't going to last. He sees his descendants gathered against his brothers' descendants in battle, and he basically watches them wipe each other. Even if he only saw the PG version, that must have been painful to watch. The more I think about it, the happier I am that I can't see the future, because you know the future will always contain good things and bad things. I'd rather be surprised by both.
6. Lastly, we have a quick review of the rest of the symbolism of the vision.
River = Hell
Great and Spacious Building = Pride of Man
7. The angel then reiterates that The Lamanites totally kick the Nephites' trash (as if he needed him to rub it in any more) and that the Lamanites forget all the traditions of their fathers and dabble in all sorts of wickedness. Which seems a pretty harsh dismissal of the Native Americans, but maybe he was only talking about the really bloodthirsty ones.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
1 Nephi 11
Although this is not the longest chapter in the Book of Mormon, it is certainly one of the most complex and cool. Prepare to be amazed. Not by my writing, or my insight (alas) but by the cool imagery in this chapter. I heart symbolism (ha!).
So in the previous chapter, as I neglected to mention, Nephi states that his dearest wish is to behold the vision of the tree of life that his father was privileged to see. He starts out this chapter by saying that as he desired to know his father had seen, and believed the words his father had said already, and sat pondering these things, he ended up getting his wish. I have those three verbs circled and linked with pencil lines in the copy of the Book of Mormon that I'm currently using: desire, believe, ponder. I think that's a pretty solid formula for receiving revelation.
So the angel appears to Nephi, and asks him what he wants even though I am positive that he (the angel) already knows. I love it when people ask questions to which they already know the answer. Like when God comes to Adam and Eve after they've eaten the forbidden fruit and he's all like, "WAIT a second? Did you guys eat the fruit??" I think if I were Eve I would have been sassy due to nerves and said something like, "Um, aren't you GOD?" This is why I was not chosen to be the mother of all living. Anyway, I think asking questions can often be a useful educational method. I think it's great. Especially when it backfires. But here it works out quite nicely, and the angel informs him that after he sees the same vision that his father saw, he will also get to see (Double plus bonus!) the future Son of God.
Fact: this angel spirit guide fella says the word "Look!" a lot. Nephi, being the obedient type to begin with, always does so, and every time he looks, he sees something new and interesting. The lesson here is simple: listen to your angel spirit guide. Or you know, the Spirit. Same thing.
Now be sure to hearken back to the previous chapter about the original vision of the tree of life, because I'm not going to repeat everything all over again. Nephi sees all the same things his father saw, and (Triple plus bonus!) also gets walked through the interpretation thereof, courtesy of the angel spirit guide. What I really like about this is that the spirit guide doesn't just spoon feed all the interpretations to Nephi, he just kind of shows him something in response to his question and lets Nephi make the connection himself, which is ultimately more meaningful. It also reminds me a little bit of the ghosts in A Christmas Carol. Which is another great educational vision, although a fictional one.
So when Nephi asks what the tree symbolizes, the angel shows him a vision of Mary, the mother of Christ. Here is something I have always wondered: the scriptures seem to make it pretty clear that Christ was not anything special looks-wise. I mean it doesn't sound like he an unusually ugly guy, but more like he was just ordinary. Not particularly beautiful on the outside. But the first thing Nephi says when he sees Mary is that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen (Ouch, Mrs. Nephi! That's OK, you know who he comes home to every night...) Does that mean she really was physically attractive, or was she just beautiful because of her mission and her deep spirituality? To me, it really does sound like she was a beautiful girl, which raises the following question: why would God choose someone beautiful to be the mother of the Savior but have the Savior be sort of plain physically? Is there some sort of connection between beauty and virtue for women that doesn't really exist with men? Or was it just a product of which spirits got callings in the pre-existence? Was everyone beautiful in the pre-existence?
Perhaps a better question to ask would be, is everyone beautiful now?
I'll get back to you.
Anyway, the angel asks Nephi if he knows of "the condescension of God," which is a very interesting phrase in English. Condescension the way we use it in this modern age generally means talking down to someone. In Hungarian, however, the phrase they use in translation means, "to move downwards" which makes a lot more sense: Christ came down to Earth to fulfill His spiritual mission. Also, Merriam-Webster lists the first definition of condescension as "voluntary descent from one's rank or dignity in relations with an inferior." To be fair, we are ALL inferior compared to Jesus. That's just the way the ball bounces. But I really love that idea of "voluntary descent." That makes Christ's mission seem all the more personal and conscious, like He chose to be our Savior and hang out with prostitutes and tax collectors because He wanted to, not because it was his lot in life by random chance.
Nephi gets the abridged version of Christ's ministry: calls twelve apostles, heals the sick, ministers to children, etc. Then he actually witnesses the Atonement and Crucifixion, which must have been terrible to watch. Frankly, I'm glad it wasn't me. I couldn't even handle Mel Gibson's the Passion of the Christ, for crying out loud. Afterwards (and I think this is very interesting) Nephi witnesses the entire world fighting against the Twelve Apostles and the members of their church. And then--ah, we've come full circle! All those guys persecuting the Twelve Apostles were in the Great and Spacious Building all along! Frankly, reading it over again makes the ending sound a bit Twilight Zone-y. But perhaps that's just me.
Spoiler alert: the Great and Spacious Building, AKA the pride of the world, eventually falls. The angel ends by telling Nephi that the same thing will happen to anyone who rebels against God. Which, to use another movie analogy, kinda sounds like he is setting things up for a sequel.
So in the previous chapter, as I neglected to mention, Nephi states that his dearest wish is to behold the vision of the tree of life that his father was privileged to see. He starts out this chapter by saying that as he desired to know his father had seen, and believed the words his father had said already, and sat pondering these things, he ended up getting his wish. I have those three verbs circled and linked with pencil lines in the copy of the Book of Mormon that I'm currently using: desire, believe, ponder. I think that's a pretty solid formula for receiving revelation.
So the angel appears to Nephi, and asks him what he wants even though I am positive that he (the angel) already knows. I love it when people ask questions to which they already know the answer. Like when God comes to Adam and Eve after they've eaten the forbidden fruit and he's all like, "WAIT a second? Did you guys eat the fruit??" I think if I were Eve I would have been sassy due to nerves and said something like, "Um, aren't you GOD?" This is why I was not chosen to be the mother of all living. Anyway, I think asking questions can often be a useful educational method. I think it's great. Especially when it backfires. But here it works out quite nicely, and the angel informs him that after he sees the same vision that his father saw, he will also get to see (Double plus bonus!) the future Son of God.
Fact: this angel spirit guide fella says the word "Look!" a lot. Nephi, being the obedient type to begin with, always does so, and every time he looks, he sees something new and interesting. The lesson here is simple: listen to your angel spirit guide. Or you know, the Spirit. Same thing.
Now be sure to hearken back to the previous chapter about the original vision of the tree of life, because I'm not going to repeat everything all over again. Nephi sees all the same things his father saw, and (Triple plus bonus!) also gets walked through the interpretation thereof, courtesy of the angel spirit guide. What I really like about this is that the spirit guide doesn't just spoon feed all the interpretations to Nephi, he just kind of shows him something in response to his question and lets Nephi make the connection himself, which is ultimately more meaningful. It also reminds me a little bit of the ghosts in A Christmas Carol. Which is another great educational vision, although a fictional one.
So when Nephi asks what the tree symbolizes, the angel shows him a vision of Mary, the mother of Christ. Here is something I have always wondered: the scriptures seem to make it pretty clear that Christ was not anything special looks-wise. I mean it doesn't sound like he an unusually ugly guy, but more like he was just ordinary. Not particularly beautiful on the outside. But the first thing Nephi says when he sees Mary is that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen (Ouch, Mrs. Nephi! That's OK, you know who he comes home to every night...) Does that mean she really was physically attractive, or was she just beautiful because of her mission and her deep spirituality? To me, it really does sound like she was a beautiful girl, which raises the following question: why would God choose someone beautiful to be the mother of the Savior but have the Savior be sort of plain physically? Is there some sort of connection between beauty and virtue for women that doesn't really exist with men? Or was it just a product of which spirits got callings in the pre-existence? Was everyone beautiful in the pre-existence?
Perhaps a better question to ask would be, is everyone beautiful now?
I'll get back to you.
Anyway, the angel asks Nephi if he knows of "the condescension of God," which is a very interesting phrase in English. Condescension the way we use it in this modern age generally means talking down to someone. In Hungarian, however, the phrase they use in translation means, "to move downwards" which makes a lot more sense: Christ came down to Earth to fulfill His spiritual mission. Also, Merriam-Webster lists the first definition of condescension as "voluntary descent from one's rank or dignity in relations with an inferior." To be fair, we are ALL inferior compared to Jesus. That's just the way the ball bounces. But I really love that idea of "voluntary descent." That makes Christ's mission seem all the more personal and conscious, like He chose to be our Savior and hang out with prostitutes and tax collectors because He wanted to, not because it was his lot in life by random chance.
Nephi gets the abridged version of Christ's ministry: calls twelve apostles, heals the sick, ministers to children, etc. Then he actually witnesses the Atonement and Crucifixion, which must have been terrible to watch. Frankly, I'm glad it wasn't me. I couldn't even handle Mel Gibson's the Passion of the Christ, for crying out loud. Afterwards (and I think this is very interesting) Nephi witnesses the entire world fighting against the Twelve Apostles and the members of their church. And then--ah, we've come full circle! All those guys persecuting the Twelve Apostles were in the Great and Spacious Building all along! Frankly, reading it over again makes the ending sound a bit Twilight Zone-y. But perhaps that's just me.
Spoiler alert: the Great and Spacious Building, AKA the pride of the world, eventually falls. The angel ends by telling Nephi that the same thing will happen to anyone who rebels against God. Which, to use another movie analogy, kinda sounds like he is setting things up for a sequel.
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